Buildings

One of the sketchbooks from the previous post was made so I could simply draw everything from my surroundings. I wanted to start with views out of the windows of the apartment. I love the theme/title ‘A sense of place’ something we used years ago when I was teaching for a module all about making books and recording your environment whether real or imagined. As the years have gone by I have realised that pretty much all of my work is about this same thing. My work is about capturing a sense of place and this period of time in history really calls for that don’t you think? Anyway these are the drawings so far…

An added little clue to the timing of the book is the bookmark end did anyone spot it? I found a ‘corona’ bottle top on one of my daily walks which I felt was a little bit of serendipitous ephemera just meant to be for this book. If you are interested in seeing the time lapse versions of these they are available on my YouTube channel. I will post my progress in a week or so…

I have just been very fortunate to take a couple of weeks out in Italy visiting two lovely friends, one in the Abruzzo region and one in Rome. I always have a sketchbook with me and try to take time out to sit and draw the things I am seeing. On this trip I especially took time for drawing in Rome spending several hours at each of the places I went, sometimes until I couldn’t feel my fingers any more! It is quite a strange sensation when the sun is burning the back of your legs through the layers of clothes but your fingers are frozen and turning blue…

This month I am away from the studio so don’t have all my usual stuff to hand (although I am collecting things to use when I’m home). So I decided it was time to get on with some drawing practice. In recent years I have discovered a new found love of drawing buildings, especially old ones, so that has taken up quite a lot of my focus.